Red Cross defends itself against Sandy critics

By Steven HartStaff Writer

Wednesday

May 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 29, 2013 at 10:15 AM

As the New Jersey Shore gears up for its first post-Sandy summer, American Red Cross officials are pushing back against complaints that the organization is still sitting on money donated to help the storm’s many victims.

Of the $302 million in donations the Red Cross has received for storm relief, some $192 million — about two-thirds — has been spent or earmarked for specific aid projects, according to the organization’s own report.

Critics say the remaining one third would have been better used over the winter, when emergency housing was in short supply for coastal residents.

“People were cold. Homes mildewed. There wasn’t enough decent housing,” said Kathleen McCarthy, director of the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York. “Given the lingering despair, it’s hard to understand the argument that, ‘We are setting that money aside.’ ”

“The Red Cross has never been a recovery operation,” said Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the nonprofit Disaster Accountability Project. “Stick with what you’re good at.”

But the aftershocks of Superstorm Sandy have not ended, and there will be plenty of use for the remaining funds, according to Julianne “Camy” Trinidad, executive director of the American Red Cross of Camden and Burlington Counties.

“A disaster doesn’t have a point where people can say, ‘OK, now the recovery begins,’ because it isn’t that clear-cut,” Trinidad said. “Plus, you’re dealing with government agencies as partners. There’s still going to be a need for that money.”

Just under half of the $192 million already spent or committed consisted of funding for food and shelter, according to the Red Cross report, while another 33 percent went for “relief items” and individual casework and assistance. Smaller amounts were spent on housing assistance, disaster vehicle equipment and housing, and physical and mental health services.

Another $27 million of the remaining Sandy money will fund “move-in assistance” grants of up to $10,000 to families displaced by the storm. About 2,000 households have already received such grants, and applications from another 4,000 are under review.

“We are waiting to see where the greatest need is going to be over time,” said Josh Lockwood, CEO of the Red Cross’ Greater New York Region. “We are most concerned with spending our resources wisely rather than quickly.”

By holding some funds in reserve, the Red Cross shows it understands that the most expensive relief work can come long after a disaster, said Patrick Rooney, associate dean of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

“It would be splashier, perhaps, to spend the money right away while the media is still there and the donors are still looking,” Rooney said. “But the important needs, from the cost perspective and the recipient perspective, take place after the headlines are gone and the cameras are gone.”

Other organizations that raised large sums for the Sandy relief effort have also held back money while gauging the best ways to spend it.

The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, led by Mary Pat Christie, the wife of the governor, raised $32 million after the storm but didn’t begin awarding grants on a large scale until April. It has given out about $11 million so far.

The United Way, which raised $9.7 million for recovery work in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and some parts of Pennsylvania, has spent about $4 million, with another $2.5 million due to go out soon.

Trinidad said her group focused on providing emergency services for displaced Ocean County residents.

A total of 382 refugees, mostly from Seaside Heights and Ortley Beach, were given cots at the Fountain of Life Center in Florence and the Burlington County College campus, Trinidad said.

“There were actually very few evacuees from Burlington County,” she said. “We got primarily renters bused in from Ocean County who needed immediate housing. They were year-round renters in the communities that were hit especially hard, and there just wasn’t any housing for them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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